Vernal Equinox March 20, 2011 // Tales of Ostrander Hut
By Sandra Ann Harris
Alive. Yep, still here. Survived our annual backcountry skiing trip into Ostrander Hut with tales of adventure. Much more adventure than we'd bargained for and thank god for the superhero skiers in our group of 21 who broke trail for 10 miles to get us out safely.
The snow was thigh deep. They took turns at the front of the line breaking a path for miles and miles and over thousands of feet of elevation gain and loss to get us to our cars parked at the Badger Pass Ski resort.
Each skier could only break trail for a few minutes before stepping out of the track to let the person behind move into the lead and break for a few minutes. We were a long caterpillar snaking our way through mountains of snow for more than seven hours.
It was a blessing that there were three other groups we encountered once we got down from the mountains to Glacier Point Road. These other groups were also struggling to get back to their cars to safety at Badger Pass Resort. Each had broken short stretches of trail that helped us in our exodus.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ski/detail?entry_id=85537